Early exits for Chisnall in Wigan

Dave Chisnall was knocked out in the early stages of the latest two UK Open qualifiers in Wigan at the weekend.

The Morecambe ace reached round three on Saturday before being knocked out at the second stage on Sunday at the Robin Park Tennis Centre.

Chisnall received a bye in the first round of the weekend’s opening event before beating Ron Atwill 6-1 in the second round.

But Paul Nicholson proved too strong at the next stage, the Australian winning 6-3.

The following day, in the fourth of eight qualifying events, Chizzy beat Barrie Bates 6-3 in round one before losing by the same score to German Jyhan Artut.

Saturday’s winner was Michael Van Gerwen, his third successive victory in the UK Open qualifiers, before Robert Thornton came out on top on Sunday.

Chisnall will still be amongst the top seeds for the UK Open in Bolton in June having finished runner-up in the first event of the year in Crawley at the end of February, losing 6-2 to Van Gerwen in the final.